Three new Apple iPhone ads were released over the weekend, and there’s a little more information they provide for all of us that can’t get enough iPhone in our diet. You can view the new ads on Apple’s website, or embedded below from YouTube.

Each ad gives us a little more of the iPhone interface and a few built-in apps in action:

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Who knows whether you MacCast readers will even see this before the actual Apple World Wide Developers Conference Keynote happens, but a few of us on the MacCast crew thought we’d take a shot at some (harebrained?) predictions for what we might see (or at least hope to see) tomorrow at WWDC.

Live Maccast Chat: If you are reading this before or during the keynote and want to chat about it live join us on iChat/AIM in the room: maccast. To access it using iChat:

1) Launch iChat
2) Go to: File–>Go to Chat… and enter ‘maccast’m as the chat name.

See you there.
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Listener Guido just sent me these images of the construction site for the new Apple Store at Rosenstasse 1 in Munich, Germany. You can likely tell from the images, but he says the building that was in place at the site has been completely torn down. The construction zone has now been completely branded Apple, with a huge iPod banner on the building adjacent to the construction pit. The store is said to be a large 4-story design and will be the first of four sites set to open in Germany. Early rumors have the Munich store opening sometime around mid-2008.

Adam already posted that iTunes 7.2 and iTunes Plus went live, but I don’t think the actual functionality was live when he made the post. Here are a quick look and a few points I’ve noted with the new iTunes features.

After you’ve updated iTunes to 7.2 from either downloading it separately or running Software Update, when you fire-up the iTunes Store in 7.2, you may not notice much change. To setup your preferences for future iTunes Plus purchases, you’re going to want to hop into your iTunes account settings (which can be found in the quick links on the right column or by clicking on your user name just below the search field in the iTunes window). From there, the first option you should see is labeled “iTunes Plus.”
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I’m sitting here, late Tuesday night (5/29), prepping the next Maccast late and Software Update just reported that a new version of iTunes 7.2 (34) was available. According to Software Update, “With iTunes 7.2 (you can), preview and purchase iTunes Plus music—new higher-quality, DRM-free music downloads from participating music labels.”. Cool, but there are two interesting things to note about this sentance… 1) Apparently DRM-free higher quality tracks will from now on be know as “Plus” music and 2) it doesn’t specifically mention “plus” tracks as being tied to EMI. The term “participating music labels” seems to imply that there are tracks from other labels available. Of course, I instantly ran the update and immediately began browsing the store for the new tracks. So far I can find no higher quality DRM free tracks available from any label, let alone EMI. I guess Apple still has yet to update the iTunes Store, but hey, they have 2 more days before May has ended so I guess there’s still time.

Not much to see yet, but we do have a few details.

Most RF emitting devices manufactured for sale in the US have to receive FCC approval. This approval is to ensure that devices live up to the manufacturer’s claims—devices must be independently certified to only communicate on specific frequencies, and not emit interference on others. In the case of the iPhone, we’re looking at a few sets of frequencies:

• GSM: 824.2-848.8 (850), 1850.2-1909.8 (1900)

• Bluetooth: 2402.0-2480.0

• WiFi: 2412.0-2462.0

What I’m not clear on is the specs here—if you look above, it reads as if the iPhone is only a US dual-mode phone (operating on the 850 and 1900Mhz frequencies), and not a quad-band or world phone (operating on the 850 & 1900, and 900 & 1800Mhz frequencies). But this is probably just because in the US, 900 and 1800 are not used for mobile/cellular phone purposes, so maybe the FCC doesn’t require manufacturers to submit tests on the frequencies the device is capable of using, only the frequencies the manufacturer intends the device to use in the US. If you have more info on this, please leave a comment below. You can read all about GSM frequencies on Wikipedia, too.
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The other day I needed to run to my local Apple store in Oak Brook, Illinois (The one in Orland Park is not open yet, but I digress) to pick up some A/V cables for the good old iPod and of course drool at all the new Mac stuff.

I have been in a few Apple stores and they are generally set up the same with the high end production software to the left of the register and the games, GarageBand loops, etc to the right.

I was perusing the latest additions to the Mac gaming world and over heard one teenager complain with a friend about the price of a game that is at least two years old, the name of the game I cannot recollect. He stated that the game was two years old, was already in the bargain bin at a local “Big Box” store, and was more than fifty percent cheaper. The question was; “Why should I pay more for something I can get for less?” His friend, who obviously was a Mac owner, looked around the store like a person who had just been publicly humiliated as his friends tone carried throughout the store. The Mac owner quickly retorted that playing on a Mac is better than playing on the PC.

At this point I was pretending to be interested in a foreign language teaching app so as to be discreet and not be seen being nosy. I had to hear the Mac owners reasons, I have my own but thought they would be different.

He said, “They look great with the Mac displays! Nothing looks better than an LCD screen.” He was arguing the case very good so far. “Did you know that the Macs have Intel chips in them?” The friend at this point looked like a deer in the headlights, he obviously didn’t have a clue about the new Macs having not only Intel chips, but Core 2 Duos. “That means you can run Windows, if you really felt the need, and play your PC games.”

I’m not going to say at this point that the friend went right up to the register and bought a Mac, but I will say that he was intrigued. He at least went up to one of the Mac specialists and asked questions about the graphics cards that came with them, and other options that could be had.

He may never own a Mac, but he will at least know why it’s fantastic to play games on the Mac. Think about it this way, the game you are purchasing may be two years old, but it’s has had patches and has had bug fixes that were not done at the very beginning, so in most cases you are getting the best product and not worrying if the program will crash. Because our PC friends have done all the beta testing for the Mac version for us.

Delicious Library US $40

Website: delicious-monster.com

Chances are that if you’re an Apple fan, you’re also heavily into some form of media. Whether it be music, movies, games, or books you probably have a couple shelves of boxes and discs scattered throughout pouches. Then there are always those friends borrowing your stuff though you know neither of you will remember who has it and if they gave it back. Delicious Library manages what you have, keeps track of where it is, makes recommendations for new content, and looks cool in the process.

Depending on how much content you have, it can take quite some time to get your entire library scanned. This process can be more enjoyable than you might think, as Delicious Library offers you several ways of scanning in your media. The fastest, but probably the most boring way of going about it would be to type out the UPC or title of your product. A more interesting way would be to set up your iSight or webcam and hold the product’s barcode in front of it. The seemingly coolest, yet most expensive way scan your content would be to order their Flic® Wireless Laser Barcode Scanner (US $174.95 and only available while buying a license). It connects via Bluetooth, works up to 50 feet away from your Mac, and can store up to 500 unique barcodes if you’re out of range. Finally, you can also use a USB barcode scanner. In fact if you have an old USB CueCat laying around you can modify it to work with Delicious Library in under a minute.
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If you have any interest in Craps then this is your a neat app at a price that won’t make you flinch. “My Craps Game” is great for the beginner and the advanced player. For those that don’t know their way around the table, the game helps you out by giving definition to different types of bets. For those who have played it endlessly, you will feel right at home.

Let me say that there is nothing fancy graphics wise about the game, but it makes up for it in the game play. The version that I reviewed was a drag and drop situation while I wished for a right click on the Mighty Mouse to speed up the betting process.

The game is great when it comes to stats, there is a history pane in the right side showing the history of the rolls that have been made. Also is a running count of how much cash you have, how much are you up, or are in the hole. One stat I wasn’t expecting but what is neat is the Points Made(In Craps the Point is the number you want to roll in order to win), and the Sevens Out(If you roll a seven after the Point is made you lose). This gives you an idea on the tide of the game.

You can pick this via download for $15 USD, $29 for a CD. And for those on Windows, because we can, they also offer a Windows version. If you buy the CD you get both versions, so that may be a route you may want to take.

For the money this is a lot of fun, and it’s not too heavy on the gaming budget. With a rating of one to ten it get’s a solid seven, no pun intended. Great game play, though nothing flashy. But still a great item to pick up.

A few months back I started assiting the fine developers over at SpinTriplet in doing bug and beta testing of their revamped and sorely needed Air Traffic Control dashboard widget for Mac OS X 10.4.

I donated to the cause (the widget is donationware), and poked and prodded them to continue development despite facing a major setback: Apple had released their Extreme ‘N’ Enabler, and blown a hole through the development of a widget that was initially just trying to grapple with the new Intel Macs, let alone a new unratified wireless protocol.

As it turned out, I was of considerable help, having an Intel Core Duo iMac, a Core Duo MacBook, and a Core2Duo MacBook, coupled with both a b/g Airport Extreme and a new Airport Extreme N wireless router. Installing the then newborn beta widget on all three computers, I set to testing and reporting console logs and screenshots for the developers.

Of course, I had a vested interest in all of this: There was no other widget nor application that could accurately display the Core2Duo’s wireless signal strength and scan for networks at the same time.

There are several applications which have since been updated to better work with the new Core2Duo Macs, but I wasn’t interested in an application- I wanted a widget that I could pop open when I’m roaming and traveling to scan for open networks and find the strongest connection areas.

Air Traffic Control has been around for awhile, sporting a few different looks, but its latest incarnation is extremely slick, and still functions as well as it looks even for a beta. Currently at 2.0.1 beta400, Air Traffic Control runs flawlessly on the three Macs I have here at home.

Though updated to work on all new Intel macs, the beta is Universal and works fine for older Macs as well. It’s feature set includes the ability to:

• Scan for closed networks
• Scan in ‘active’ mode, scanning more frequently to find networks
• Prevent unauthorized users from changing your network settings
• Connect to any type of network (a,b,g,n – if your airport card supports them)
• Check for AirTrafficControl updates automatically
• Use the Keychain to store, retrieve and update WPA or WEP passwords
• View current connection details including network speed
• Sorts networks by signal strength

There simply isn’t a better Airport widget available which includes both the functionality and the style of Air Traffic Control. It’s one of the handful of widgets that I consider essential for a mobile Mac user, and one in which I had no issue paying for.